Ian Ritchie has spent virtually the last year helping save the European Cup, locked in meetings at airport hotels when he was not on the telephone, but the Rugby Football Union chief executive's attention is now closer to home, with two deals with the Premiership clubs needing to be done.

The first is compensation for the World Cup, which the RFU is hosting next year. The tournament regulations stipulate that during the month-long pool stage, the Premiership has to be shut down. The clubs, who have said they will not threaten to withhold players from the tournament if talks with the union stall, are reported to be asking for £14m.

The second is the renewal of the elite-player agreement, which runs out in the summer of 2016. Ritchie hopes a new deal will be signed before the start of the World Cup and relations between the RFU and the clubs have never been stronger.

"We have both been so preoccupied with Europe that we have not had proper discussions over World Cup compensation or the elite-player agreement," said Ritchie. "They will now come on to the front burner and we both want everything to be sorted out sooner rather than later."

Ritchie will take some persuading by the clubs, who have the option of starting the Premiership in August and playing for a month before the start of the World Cup, that they will be £14m out of pocket. Even though the rule about the Premiership not clashing with the pool stage is laid down by Rugby World Cup Ltd, the RFU has to pay compensation as hosts.

"There is a focus on compensation, but the way I look at it is that the World Cup will be a huge positive for club rugby," said Ritchie. "It will be a fantastic event and it will be an economic success for clubs. Getting an agreement is the next priority for us. I think £14m is a projection, but we appreciate it will impact on Premiership Rugby's business. We just feel there will be an upside that will be reflected in greater interest in the club game and higher attendances."

The elite-player agreement has worked more effectively than anyone had dared anticipate when it was signed in 2008, 13 years of disagreements, some bitter, disappearing with a few flourishes of a pen. While the England head coach, Stuart Lancaster, wants a few tweaks when it comes to player access and selecting them, Ritchie anticipates that how much the RFU pays the clubs will be the main talking point.

"There are not huge issues of principle involved," he said. "We have worked closely with Premiership Rugby in talks over the European Cup and we have a very good relationship. That does not mean there will not be any disagreements, but we both want what is best for English rugby: we as a union want our clubs to be vibrant and successful and they want England to do well."

Speaking about events at Kingsholm on Saturday, meanwhile, when, during a violent Premiership derby between Gloucester and Bath that saw two players sent off and a further five sin-binned, a schoolboy was also identified to have thrown a plastic bottle at the referee Tim Wigglesworth, Ritchie said: "We are looking at what went on and we will make some views on it from a disciplinary fashion. I do not think you could say it was the greatest advert ever seen for the game, in terms of what happened off as well as on the pitch, but we have to see if there is further action we can take. If we do, it will then go through an independent process."